Sit in Silence
by neon maverick
Summary: A shooting at East High causes 18 deaths and many injured. How do you just sit there in silence? How do you move on?
1. Prologue

_A shooting at East High causes 18 deaths and many injured. How do you just sit there in silence? How do you move on?_

'And so, young stars, as we travel through our lives, remember that talent is rare and we will feel it rush through us as we go to face the world…'

Troy looked behind at his best friend. 'I think she's lost it.'

Chad covered a laugh. 'Dude, you only just noticed?'

Troy leaned back into his chair, smiling. 3…2…1…

A loud bell rang out, causing everyone to jump out of their seats and run for the door. Finally they were free of their rambling homeroom teacher.

'Remember, Drama Club is tonight, people. We always welcome newcomers.'

Troy leant against his locker, ready for his girlfriend to come out.

'Hey Troy, you coming to practise?' Zeke asked.

'Yeah, one minute. Gabriella's mom is on vacation so she's staying with me. She's watching the practise tonight, alright?' Troy said.

'Cool. How long is Gabriella's mom gone?'

'3 weeks.' Troy grabbed Gabriella's hand as she came out.

'Hey.' She said, smiling.

The group started to walk to the gym. Gabriella set down her stuff on a side bench.

'Hi Gabriella.' Jack Bolton nodded at her.

'Coach Bolton.' Gabriella said, nodding back.

There was an awkward silence. Jack walked away, greeting the team as they jogged in. Troy winked at Gabriella and she giggled.

'Okay, Wildcats, warm up!'

* * *

'Nice going, guys!' Jack slapped all the guys' backs as they ran out and Gabriella picked her bag and jacket up, ready to follow them.

'Hey Gabriella, can I talk to you?' Jack said. Troy turned round, frowning. 'Go on.' Jack said, shooing him off.

Gabriella walked over. 'Yes, Coach Bolton?'

'Okay, firstly: call me Jack. Except at school. _Not _a good idea with Darbus sneaking around.' Gabriella smiled. 'And also, we got off to a rough start when I found out Troy could sing. I'm sorry and…' Jack looked towards the closed door.

He walked over quietly and opened it sharply, making Troy stumble in. Gabriella giggled. Troy cleared his throat. 'Sorry.'

'Listening in, were we?'

'I'll just…go…now.' Troy looked shamefaced.

'Good idea.' Jack said, shaking his head, amused.

He turned back towards Gabriella. 'As I was saying, I'm sor—'

His apology was cut off by a gunshot from the corridor. And another. And another.

'What the…?' Gabriella said, turning towards the sound and then turning back towards Jack.

He breathed deeply. Suddenly all the guys started running in. 'You heard that, right?' Chad asked.

Troy took Gabriella's hand in his.

The gym door opened. Three boys stood there, with disturbing smiles on their faces, each holding a gun.

'Miss us, Bolton?'

**Please Review.**


	2. First One Down

'Miss us, Bolton?'

The team looked in recognition at the three standing in the doorway. Gabriella was pushed to the back of the crowd.

'Daniel. James. Eric.' Troy said, never letting go of his girlfriend's hand.

'What are you doing here?' Chad asked.

'Well, you remember before Christmas, you didn't let on the team…' Daniel started.

'We want revenge…' James carried on.

'So now…' Eric said, holding up his gun.

'Whoa, whoa, whoa!' Troy said, putting his hands up. 'Can't we talk about this?' he said, trembling slightly.

Eric rolled his eyes. 'What's there to talk about?' he said, lowering his gun slightly.

'Why? Just because we didn't want you on the team doesn't mean you have to shoot us.'

Jack looked at Gabriella. 'Side door. Leads to the inside of the school.' He whispered.

She nodded slightly. She squeezed Troy's hand. Chad looked at her. 'Side door.' She mouthed.

He took the hint and the whole team soon knew what to do.

'We want to shoot you because if we had got on to the team, we would have been popular. We didn't, so now we're unpopular. _You _did that, Bolton.'

Chad pointed towards the door they had come through. 'Hey, look! Teacher!' he whispered loud enough for the boys to hear.

Two looked round but one stayed. The group took their chance. 'Go!' Jack whispered.

They all ran out the side door. Daniel, the one who hadn't turned around, started shooting randomly at them.

One bullet hit the wall, one smashed the glass on the door and one skidded past Jack's elbow. Then all three started running after them.

* * *

'Drama room.' Gabriella said, as they ran down the corridor. They all hurried into the drama room and Sharpay and Kelsi looked up.

'What the hell?' Sharpay asked.

'There are 3 maniacs in the building. They're following us. Just _hide_.' Chad said, running behind some tables and turning them upside down.

'What? Maniacs?' Kelsi said, confused.

'One word. Guns.' Zeke said.

More gunshots went off outside. 'Oh God.' Troy gulped.

They all hid behind upturned tables as the door banged open. The boys laughed. 'You can't hide, Troy!'

Ryan came out from behind a curtain. 'Shar, I can't find the…' he trailed off, seeing the armed boys.

James shot at him and Ryan fell. Sharpay and Gabriella both started to scream and Troy put a hand on each of their mouths. 'Nobody else say anything or I'll run out of hands.' He whispered quietly.

'Let's go outside and wait. They'll have to come out sometime.' James said, holding his gun up, ready to shoot. They all went outside and Troy let go of the girls. They both ran over to Ryan.

'Ry?' Sharpay asked quietly.

Ryan opened his eyes. 'I'll be fine.' He answered weakly.

He looked down at his stomach. 'It only skimmed me.'

Gabriella stood up. 'There's got to be loads of people in school still. What about them?'

Troy looked around. 'Wait, where's my dad?'

* * *

Jack Bolton had run outside the building. He whipped out his cell phone, calling with shaky fingers 9-1-1.

After that, he called his wife.

'_Hello?'_

'Lucille.'

She noticed the panic in his voice. _'Jack? What's the matter? Has something happened to Troy?'_

'No, not yet. Lucille, there's 3 shooters at East High. I'm outside, but Troy might not be so lucky. He and all his friends are in there. Luce, what do I do?'

'_Oh my God. Oh my God. Um…okay…just stay outside. Have you called the police?'_

'Yes. They're on their way.'

'_Okay, so just _don't _go in. Wait for the police.' _

'Okay. I'll call if I know anything. Bye.'

Jack snapped his cell shut, wishing for the safety of his son.

**Please Review.**


	3. One Bullet, Two Victims

'Let's just go. We can get them later, Dan.' Eric said.

'I want to kill them now.' Daniel said menacingly.

'Yeah, but mate, think about it. If they have cell phones, they can call the coppers now. At least get _something_ out of this and kill _someone_.'

'They don't have cell phones. I grabbed Gabriella's on the way out and the rest are still in the changing room.' Daniel said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

'What about the coach?' James said, raising his eyebrows.

Daniel looked as if he'd completely forgotten about him. 'Right, right. That's good. Let's do this.'

He cocked his gun and walked off around the corner. 'That's our boy.' James said, smiling sickeningly.

Screaming and gunshots could be heard just seconds afterwards.

* * *

'Hey, hey. Look. They're gone. They went off round the corner.' Chad said, looking through the window of the door.

'Seriously, guys – Where's my dad?' Troy was starting to get worried.

'Well, he's not dead, that's for sure.' Zeke said, pointing out of the window.

Troy looked out the window and saw his father on the phone. 'He's probably calling the police.'

'And hopefully an ambulance, by the sound of it.' Gabriella said, gulping slightly, listening to the screams from outside.

'Come on, Ry.' Sharpay hauled her brother up with the help of Zeke and Kelsi. He leaned on her for support as they started to make another quick escape.

'I don't want to go out there.' Chad whined.

'Fine, we'll take you as bait.' Sharpay snapped. She obviously didn't deal well in bad situations; she was changing her mood easily.

'Thanks.' Chad rolled his eyes.

Sharpay was about to retaliate but Gabriella stepped in. 'Guys! If you want to get out of here, _stop arguing_.'

They made their way out of the gym, Ryan leaning on Chad and Sharpay, Troy holding Gabriella's hand. Kelsi and Jason were holding hands too, but neither noticed their crush doing so.

'Why are you going that way? The door's this way.' Sharpay hissed.

'If you didn't notice, there are many gunshots coming from that direction.' Chad whispered back.

'Do you _want_ to be stuck in here?' she murmured, exasperated.

'No, but I don't want to die!' Chad said, a little too loudly.

The gunshots grinded to a halt. They heard voices.

'Did you hear that?'

'Yeah. It sounded like Danforth.'

'Way to go, Chad.' Sharpay muttered sarcastically.

'It came from over there.'

'Let's go.'

The Wildcats looked at each other. 'Run!' Troy whispered.

They all ran to the nearest classroom. There were no lights on and all the guys were comforting the girls. Even Ryan tried to reassure Sharpay, though he was losing blood quickly and he knew it. They all hid under the tables quickly as footsteps were heard. No-one dared breathe. They heard whisperings. Suddenly James, Eric and Daniel started to head out the door.

Troy and Gabriella, still holding on to each other, started to crawl out from underneath their table. Both stood up and as they started to calm down, Daniel whipped round and fired. He'd known they'd been there all along.

Troy tried to absorb the pain as the bullet made contact with his chest. It went straight through him and into his girlfriend. One bullet had felled them both.

The rest of them looked on in horror as the couple fell. Before they hit the ground, Chad and Zeke skidded over and caught them. Daniel fired again, but realised there were no more bullets.

'Damn it!' Jason ran over and quickly shut the door before any more bullets came.

Gabriella was already out cold, blood pouring from just above her chest. Troy was barely awake but he turned his head towards his girlfriend.

'Gabi. Wake up. Gabi.'

Chad hauled him up into a sitting position, which only caused more blood to spurt out. He laid him down again, and all Troy knew was darkness.

**Please Review.**


	4. News

Troy blinked. He licked his chapped lips and looked around. Everything was white. He knew where he was immediately. He visibly cringed. He looked next to him. The only colour in the room was his sleeping mom and dad's clothes. His mom stirred. She opened her eyes and gasped.

'Jack.' She said, hitting her husband's arm. 'Jack!'

'Huh? What?' Jack was suddenly wide awake.

Lucille's answer was just rushing to Troy's bedside and grabbing his hand. 'Honey? Can you hear me? Talk to me. Troy, honey, say something.'

'Mom…' It was a strain for him just to get one word out.

'Hi baby.' Lucille started crying.

'Mom…don't cry.' Troy said. He tried to lift his arm but it was too heavy and painful.

Suddenly he started to remember what happened. 'Gabi?' he said, worried.

He saw his mom tense up. 'Dead?' he murmured, tears in his eyes.

'Oh no, honey! She's not dead, but…she hasn't woken up yet.'

'How…how long?'

He assumed she'd say a day or two, a week at most. It came as a surprise when he got his answer.

'It's been 3 weeks, sport.' Jack said. 'I'm gonna go get Chad.'

Troy nodded painfully. A minute later and Chad walked in. He smiled sadly.

'I'm gonna go get some coffee. Jack, come with me.' Lucille said, and they headed out.

Troy frowned. What were they hiding? Chad looked at him, but he avoided eye contact.

'Chad? What's the matter?' Troy saw Chad's sad eyes.

'They didn't tell you?' Chad said.

'Tell me what?' Troy was starting to get worried.

'I don't know if I should…' Chad gulped back tears.

'Did someone die?'

Chad looked at him with wide eyes. 'Wait, were you told anything?'

'Just that Gabi hadn't woken up yet. But she's fine, right?'

'I…I don't know. But Troy, one person didn't die. 18 did.'

Everything stopped. 'Who?'

'Actually, 21 did. Because Daniel, Eric and James turned the guns on themselves after they killed people. But…when we tried to get you and Gabs out of there, they shot…they shot Jase…'

Troy knew what he meant. 'Jase…?'

'Troy, Jason died. Eric shot at Kelsi and he jumped in front of her.'

'Oh my God.' Troy felt tears come to his eyes.

'Troy, there's more.'

What else didn't his parents tell him?

'What?'

'Gabriella's on life-support.''

'Okay…' Troy didn't see where he was going with this.

'The doctors say they're taking her off it tonight.'

**I'm going back to school tomorrow so I won't be updating as often. As much as I would love to skip school… :D**

**Also, thanks to the people who told me that Troy's mom was called Lucille. **

**Please Review.**


	5. Shake

Troy turned on his side, away from Chad. Chad touched his arm. 'Troy…I didn't…I thought…I thought that…'

Troy started shaking. Chad pulled back his hand like he was red hot. 'Troy?'

He gingerly turned him back over. Troy's eyes were wide open, but practically white. There was blood seeping through his clothing and from his mouth. He was shaking vigorously now and Chad, after putting the bars on the bed up, pushed the emergency button.

As doctors and nurses poured into the room, Chad was pushed out of the door. He heard snippets of their conversation.

_He may not make it, doctor…_

_His stitches have been torn open…_

_Heartbeat's dropping…_

_He's flat lined, doctor…_

* * *

'How is he?' Chad jumped up when the doctor came out of the room.

'He's stable. He gave us a bit of a scare but he pulled through. Where are his parents?'

'They went to get food or something. I don't know. But…can you promise me something?'

'Depends on what it is.' The doctor crossed his arms.

'Troy has a girlfriend. She's a few doors along. If there is any chance of her surviving, and I mean _any_, please can you try and stop them turning off her life-support? She really is his life.' Chad was practically on his knees.

'What's her name?'

'Gabriella Montez.'

The doctor looked at his clipboard. 'I don't know…she's not my patient.'

'Whose is she?'

'Unfortunately, Miss Montez is in the hands of a doctor who doesn't exactly like me. I doubt he'll do it if I asked.'

'But…it's not for you, well not technically, so couldn't he do it for a guy who really loves her?'

'I'll try.'

* * *

'Come on, it's like the boy said, it's not for me. It's for a boy who really is in love with her.'

'She has no chance of survival.'

'She must have some.'

'She doesn't!'

The two rivalling doctors were standing in Gabriella's room. Troy's doctor took hold of her hand.

'If she squeezes it, give her a chance. If she doesn't, by all means, turn it off.'

The doctors waited a few seconds and nothing happened. As Gabriella's doctor reached for the switch, Gabriella's hand twitched…

**Please Review.**


	6. Please Wake Up

Sharpay sat in the very uncomfortable hospital visitor chair next to her brother. She'd bitten her usually manicured nails down to stubs. She was still wearing the outfit from 4 days ago. She couldn't be bothered to do anything; the usual fashion expert was actually wearing an old T-shirt of Ryan's, and was twiddling a pink fedora of his round her fingertip. Everyone had told her to talk to him…but she felt like an idiot talking to someone who wouldn't reply.

'_How's Gabriella?' Ryan asked as Sharpay helped him down the corridor. _

'_She's…' Sharpay wasn't going to lie to him. '…not so good.'_

_Ryan looked behind to see Chad carrying Troy and Zeke carrying Gabriella. There wasn't one person who wasn't crying in their group of friends. Well, who were still conscious. Ryan sighed and looked back, holding his stomach painfully. Sharpay put her cool hand on it, making him calm down slightly. _

'_You're gonna be okay, Shar.' Ryan said, trying to comfort her._

_Sharpay looked surprised. 'I'm more worried about you, Ry.' _

'_Don't be, seriously.' More gunshots rang out behind them. 'Just get out alive, don't worry about me.' _

'_But I…'_

'_Shar!' Ryan warned, and then groaned in pain. 'Don't argue with me, okay? You're gonna get out alive.'_

'_What about you?' Sharpay felt tears sliding down her cheeks._

_Ryan didn't answer, he couldn't. 'Hey, look, we're nearly at the door.' _

_Sharpay didn't push it. She was reaching for the handle of the door when someone grabbed her wrist and twisted it backwards. She screamed in pain, and Ryan inhaled deeply, seeing who it was. Eric stood there; he let go of her wrist and put a hand onto the door's handle._

'_You're not going anywhere.' _

Sharpay shuddered as she remembered that day's events. She felt tears descending down her face as she reminisced what happen next.

'_None of you are.' Eric said menacingly. _

'_Why don't you just let us go?!' Kelsi said, coming out from behind a few people. _

'_I can let you go if you want.' He said, shooting at her. _

'_Kelsi!' Jason jumped in front of her just in time and the bullet hit him square in the chest. _

'_Well, there's my six.' Eric said, turning the gun towards himself. _

_No-one looked as the gun went off into Eric's left temple. They couldn't. Kelsi knelt down next to Jason, crying. 'Oh God, Jason…wake up.' Kelsi shook him. 'Jase, wake up!' She felt his pulse, and her head dropped onto his bloody chest as she realised he didn't have one. _

Sharpay's lower lip trembled as she remembered Jason. He had always been really sweet, even in trouble like that.

_Sharpay took her chance, even though her arm was hurting still. She pushed the door open and saw people cheering as they came outside. She walked down the stairs slowly, feeling Ryan go limp. The cheering stopped as Chad and Zeke came out, and Kelsi dragging Jason out, crying. _

_As Sharpay got to the bottom of the stairs, Ryan slipped from her hold and went down to the ground. 'Ryan!' Sharpay screamed as she knelt down with him. Ryan's eyes were closed, and Sharpay slapped his cheek slightly. 'Ryan!' she screamed after no response. 'Ryan…wake up.'_

_Two paramedics rushed over, pulling Ryan up and taking him to an ambulance. 'Hey, that's my brother!' Sharpay ran after them, screaming at them. 'Let me see him!' _

_Jack and Lucille were looking over the crowds for Troy, assuming that he would be alright. When they saw Chad, they ran over to speak to him. But as they got closer, they realised the blond-brown haired boy in Chad's arms was their son. _

Sharpay had seen this just before she got into the ambulance with her brother. She furiously wiped at the tears that wouldn't stop coming.

'Why are you crying, Shar?' Sharpay looked around to see her brother staring at her intently.

'Oh my God, Ryan…'

**Please Review.**


	7. Wants and Needs

'I want…to see her.' Troy whispered to his parents.

'You can't, sweetheart.' Lucille said, stroking his cheek. 'Gabriella is in ICU for a specific reason.'

'So am I.' Troy coughed, blood falling slightly from the side of his mouth.

The parents looked at each other with concerned expressions, until Chad, who had been standing quietly in the corner, piped up. 'It's normal.' He said calmly.

'Oh…right. Chad, me and Jack are gonna go for some coffee. Can you stay with Troy?' Lucille said, looking at him.

Chad looked at his best friend; he'd never been scared to be alone with him before, but he was frightened he'd say the wrong thing. '…Yeah.' He still answered, mentally cursing himself for doing so.

'Okay. Sweetie, we'll be back in about an hour, alright?' Lucille kissed Troy's cheek and Jack smiled at his son as they walked out.

Chad stood in the corner, avoiding Troy's intent gaze. 'Why don't you wanna be alone with me, Chad?'

'Who said that?' Chad looked at him, but could not keep his gaze for too long.

'You did.'

Chad was confused. Had he said it without realising? 'W-what?'

'Usually…' Troy looked away. 'It doesn't matter.'

Chad suddenly felt a wave of guilt pass over him, and he grabbed a chair and pulled it next to Troy's bed. 'What?'

Troy stayed silent. Chad looked uncomfortably down at his lap. Suddenly they both looked up. 'I'm scared I'll say the wrong thing…' Both trailed off as they realised they'd said it together.

They both laughed slightly; it was like old times. 'It's funny how brothers can do that.' Troy said, somewhat smiling.

Chad looked at him. 'So I am still your brother?'

'When were you ever not?' Troy stared at his best friend.

'When I told you Gabriella was on life-support, and was being taken off it…and that Jase had…d-died. I thought you blamed me.'

'W-whoa. Hold up there. Why would I blame you, Chad?'

'I…I dunno. I was just…' Chad sighed. 'Feel free to call me totally stupid.'

'Nah. Not totally. Slightly stupid; a doofus, if you will.' Troy said.

Chad sniggered. 'Okay, fine. You win. I'm a…doofus.' He said, starting to laugh.

* * *

'R-Ryan?' Sharpay whispered, staring at her brother.

'Shar…it hurts.' Ryan said, his forehead creasing.

Sharpay walked forward swiftly. 'Oh God, Ryan, I was so scared.' She said, hugging him tightly round the neck.

'S-Shar…' Ryan coughed sarcastically. 'You're killing me.'

Sharpay leant back and hit his shoulder slightly. 'Don't ever do that to me again. Ever.'

'Ever.' Ryan agreed, nodding. 'It still hurts though.'

Sharpay pushed the nurse's button. 'Where does it hurt?' she asked sweetly.

A nurse walked in. 'Ah…Mr Evans, you're awake.'

'And in pain. Is that normal?' Sharpay was worried; she didn't want to lose her brother.

'I'll give you some strong painkillers for that. It may hurt for a couple of weeks –'

'Weeks?' Ryan whined.

'Listen to the nice nurse.' Sharpay said, smiling. She laid her hand on top of his, curling her fingers around it.

The nurse smiled slightly. 'After that, you should be fine, although indigestion and stomach aches may hurt more than before.'

Ryan nodded. 'Okay.'

The nurse crushed some tablets and carefully inserted them into his drip, Ryan watching with amazement. The nurse walked out the room, secretly smiling at how close they were.

Sharpay crouched beside him, and touched his cheek. He looked towards her and she smiled, tears in her eyes. 'I missed you so much, Ryan.'

Ryan hadn't really known what was going on, so he wasn't sure if he missed her or not. 'I love you, Shar.'

Sharpay beamed at him, her eyes glistening. 'I love you too.' She murmured. 'Ooh and this…is yours.' She reached to the chair and grabbed the pink fedora, positioning it on his head, beaming at the sight of her brother looking normal, minus the hospital clothes, hospital bed and machines weaving in and out of him, and her smile dropped ever so slightly.

'I believe that's mine too.' Ryan said, plucking at his T-shirt. Sharpay opened her mouth to explain, but Ryan raised his finger to her lips. 'It's okay, Shar. It's kinda nice.'

'Yeah, well, I only wore it under the circumstances. I had no other clothes and…' she looked at him, trailing off her pathetic excuse. 'Okay, fine. It smelt like you; I needed it.'

He smirked, snorting with laughter. 'Shar, I'm actually…quite touched that you'd do that. I didn't know you cared so much.'

Sharpay frowned. 'Of course I care, Ry. I always have. I just…don't like to show my emotions.'

Ryan sniggered. 'Oh yeah, you don't like your emotions to take you over, Miss Drama-Queen.'

Sharpay slapped his shoulder. 'Don't be mean.' She laughed, her hair falling in front of her face.

Ryan smiled and laughed slightly with her and pulled it out of her face. 'Look, Shar, I mean what I said before. I really do love you.'

Sharpay couldn't stop her tears falling. 'I love you too, Ryan. So, so much.'

**No people, this is not twincest. I refuse to write any kind of incest whatsoever, especially twincest. So…yes. Please Review. **


	8. Danforth's View on Life

**Chad's POV**

Watching your best friend get shot is something no person ever wants to see. And on the evening of that day, that is exactly what I witnessed.

At the time, I had no idea as to what I should do. I didn't even see him get shot. The second I hear the gun go off and come to sudden stop as it made contact with flesh, I closed my eyes.

I guess you could call me a coward. I certainly feel like one. I let him get shot – the only thing I did was catch him before he hit the ground. No-one else did anything for him, but I'm his _brother_. I'm supposed to make sure he doesn't get hurt; I'm supposed to make sure he doesn't have a near-death experience, no matter whether I was there or not. I should've have done something.

It's my fault, you know. I shouldn't have shouted at Sharpay – that way we would have been able to escape.

'_Why are you going that way? The door's this way.' Sharpay hissed as I made my way away from danger. _

'_If you didn't notice, there are many gunshots coming from that direction.' I whispered back. _

'_Do you want to be stuck in here?' she murmured, exasperated. _

'_No, but I don't want to die!' I said, a little too loudly. _

_The gunshots grinded to a halt. We heard those all too familiar voices. _

'_Did you hear that?' _

'_Yeah. It sounded like Danforth.' Shit._

'_Way to go, Chad.' Sharpay muttered sarcastically. _

'_It came from over there.'_

'_Let's go.' _

_Us Wildcats looked at each other. 'Run!' Troy whispered at us._

So we ran. We ran to that classroom – the one where he and Gabriella were shot. We just hid under the tables, praying they wouldn't notice us.

They came and they went – just as we thought. So Troy and Gabriella started to get out from under their table, still holding hands. There was no time for anyone to follow suit.

Daniel just whipped around and fired…just like _that_. My life changed forever when I heard that gunshot. So I turned; I was a coward and couldn't watch. By the time I looked back up again, Troy's and Gabriella's hands had been torn apart and both were falling. Zeke made the first move and went to catch Gabriella, who was closest to him. I followed and grabbed my best friend before he hit the ground.

_I remember Daniel trying to fire again, but wasn't able to. 'Damn it!' So Jason ran over and quickly shut the door before any more bullets came. _

'_Gabi. Wake up. Gabi.' Troy was reaching out to Gabriella, who was already unconscious and bloody, so I tried to pulling him into a sitting position. _

_However, as I did this, more blood came out of his wound and Troy's head lolled and his body totally relaxed. _

_I immediately feared the worst. I could feel the hot tears staining my cheeks – at no point did I think "I'm a man – men don't _cry_" because that was all I wanted to do. _

Tears are slipping down my cheeks now just thinking of the possibility of a life without Troy Bolton. _My _life without Troy Bolton.

I can't live without him. I know this sounds like I'm in love or something – but he's the only one I can talk to. It doesn't make sense to me, but I can tell him anything. If he were to die, my life would just implode back on me.

_I remember not wanting to check his pulse because I was scared I'd find nothing. I remember Jason kneeling down and checking it himself and looking at me, silently telling me that he was still alive. I remember the door being shaken with the impact of one of the gunmen trying to knock it down. I remember the way the footsteps melted away into the distance, with one last gunshot shattering the glass in the door just for effective warning. I remember Kelsi making her way to the door and slowly peering over the side to check whether they'd gone or not. _

Walking out of the room was the second worst part of that fateful day – the time where Jason gave his life to save Kelsi's.

As I search for how much I cared for Taylor and whether I'd do that for her, the tragedy's events flashed through my mind's eye. They were all so vivid – so real, like I was reliving it. I guess I deserved this – it's my fault Jason died, it's my fault Troy and Gabriella were shot, it's my fault Ryan was shot, it's my fault I can't understand what happened and why.

Troy stirs and I look up through the deflated mass called my afro. I haven't done anything with it in days. His eyes open and he stares at me sleepily. 'What's wrong?'

'Huh?'

'You're crying.' He states simply.

I touch my cheek softly, feeling the wetness on the skin. 'Oh. I didn't realise.'

Troy frowns at me. 'Seriously? Because it's not exactly unnoticeable.' There's a mirror on the wall so I go and check. Sure enough, the tears cascading down my cheeks weren't really discreet. 'What's wrong?'

I bite my lip. 'No, it's fine. Just reminiscing is all.'

'On…?' he pushes me to say something I don't want to.

'The…the shooting.' My voice sounds odd even to me as I say this.

Troy's eyes flit down for a split-second and then back up again to look at me. 'Oh.' That was his reaction. _Oh._

'Oh?' My eyebrows rise slightly. 'Is that it? That's all you have to say?'

Troy shifts himself into a sitting position with his legs swinging over the edge, his weight held up by his arms on either side of him. 'What do you expect me to say?'

'I dunno – something…anything?'

'Well, I'm not really in the mood for talking about that at the moment.' Troy gets up slowly, the wires and tubes becoming detatched, and I walk forward to block his path. 'Get out my way, Chad.' Obviously talking about the shooting has sparked his anger.

'Why?'

'I have to go see Gabriella.' He says, trying to push past me.

'Troy, you're not allowed. Just go sit down and –' He cuts me off.

'No, Chad! I won't sit down – I want to see the girl I _love_!' The moment he says this, my thoughts swarm back to Taylor and how much I really did love her. Did I even love her at all? Like a sister, maybe? Yes, of course like a sister – I love all the girls like my sisters. But…is Taylor any different? Is she really my soulmate? Are we really meant to be?

I snap back to reality to see that Troy is staring at me still. 'Please, Chad, just let me see her.'

My protective instincts kick in again. 'No, Troy. I'm sorry but you have to lie down.' I can see already that he's out of breath, I can see the sweat beads standing out on his forehead. He tries to push past me again. 'No, Troy!' I push him softly but firmly to show him who's boss in this matter, and for more authority over him I hold the tops of his arms so that he can't escape as easily.

However, when Troy's angry, almost nothing can stop him. 'Chad,_ let_ _go of me_!' He grabs my arms in a similar way and practically throws me out of the way, even though it's blatantly obvious it kills him to do so, mentally and physically.

He grabs the door handle and angrily flings the door open and walks out, even though we both know he doesn't know where his girlfriend is.

Still, I run after him. 'Troy!'

As I turn out of the room, I can see my best friend grabbing onto one of the hospital trolleys to steady himself. 'Chad…' he whispers quietly.

'Troy!' I sprint over to him, my trainers squeaking on the tiled sterilised floor. I let him wrap his arm round my shoulder and I balance him carefully. 'Are you alright?'

'Chad…I can't breathe.'

Okay, so my best friend is officially near to collapsing in my arms. I'm no doctor, but that can't be a good sign.

Suddenly, Troy's arm slips from my shoulder and his knees cave in. 'Oh my God, Troy!' He hits the cold floor and I stoop down to help him. The heavy breathing is slowing and I'm ready to have a fit.

'Ch-Chad…' he coughs, blood once again trickling out his mouth – however this time, the blood is more steady and thick, not as it is usually.

_I walk out of the building, feeling the tense atmosphere and hearing the cheering die down. I try to ignore the fact that one of my closest friends is dead and the closest is near to it, and the fact that I can feel the blood from Troy's wound sticking to my arms underneath his body. _

_I walk as fast as I can, not taking my eyes off of the teenage boy in my arms, the movement of his chest and the flickering of his eyelids fighting to stay open. Pushing through the crowds, I catch sight of Troy's mom and dad and rush over. I see the tears spill over in Lucille's eyes and how Coach Bolton's face crumples. Lucille runs a hand through her son's hair as I still hold him. 'Is he…?' _

_I can still feel him breathing, so I shake my head. 'He…he needs a…d-doctor…' _

Troy's head lolls in my arms. I'm holding him as I was when he was shot. 'Help.' I say quietly. 'Oh my God…I need help! Someone help me please!' I stare down at Troy's unconscious body. 'Be right back, buddy.'

I run to the nurse station. There's one night nurse who I've come to know as Cheryl who's reading _The Tenth Circle _by Jodi Picoult, dipping into a box of chocolates next to her. 'Excuse me, I need help.' I say, my shaking hand banging against the desk.

She looks up. 'What's wrong, sweetie?'

'My…er…my best friend…he, um, he…collapsed, trying to go see Gabriella…' she frowns.

'He _collapsed_?' Obviously surprised by this, she marks her page with a sweet wrapper and places the book down, pushing the red **EMERGENCY **button on the inside of the desk. 'Where is he?'

'Just down here.' I run down the corridor – she's following close behind.

I kneel down beside Troy and check whether he's breathing. 'Oh thank God…' He was, but barely.

I could hear Cheryl running off – probably to get a doctor. At this moment, all I wish is for Troy would wake up.

Suddenly, Troy's doctor comes up and kneels down. He speaks a load of doctor nonsense that I don't understand and then everything just speeds up – more doctors come and take him away, and I'm left – they don't let me see him. They tell me to go and get something to eat but I can't, I can't – I have to see him, how can I eat at a time like this?

Then I realise that if I can't eat, there's only one thing I can do. I have to go see Gabriella.

**Dun dun…**

**DUHHHHN.**

**:D Please Read and Review.**


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